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Rheum Update Plus Celiac Update and More

Celiac Update

 I started meting with the dietitian on my campus and she is really great (I actually babysit for her kids now). She had me keep a food journal, and we saw I was not eating enough. I added in snacks, I try my best to get two in a day but some days just go better than on that front. I can't seem to break 125 lb, which is okay if I maintain it but not id I lose anymore weight.

I also met with Disability Services on my campus and was able to get my meal plan down graded so I am mostly cooking for myself. I was also able to get disability housing for next year so I am getting an apartment with  full kitchen.

Last week I saw my GI. She prescribed Periactin to help my nausea (which is why I have so much trouble getting enough food). I am only taking one pill a day right now but we may up it this week. The reason I started with such a low dose is because it causes severe drowsiness. I was actually falling asleep in class the day after my first dose as I was drinking coffee. Trying to stay awake the first day felt like fighting anesthesia. So far it hasn't really helped my nausea too much.

The other things we went over at the appointment are the fact we will schedule an endoscopy sometime after finals in May to see if my small intestines have healed or not. Depending on the results of the endoscopy I may have a colostomy to check for Crohn's Disease.

Rheumatology Update

This week I had an appointment with my rheumatologist. I actually was not expecting much to change. While I am far from pain free I had a good stretch during winter break and even though my joints have been getting worse since back in school (I think it is all the sitting), they are still not as bad as they were say a year ago. Since there still is active inflammation though my rheumatologist brought up a new medication, Sulfasalazine.

This medication is not an NSAID like most of the ones I have tried (which means I will continue on Celebrex for the time being). Sulfasalazine is considered a Disease Modifying Anti Rheumatic Drug (DMARD). There are a few more side effects and depending is what is causing my GI issues is an autoimmune issue or not this can help or hurt my stomach. Since there are GI risks associated my Rheumy wanted to talk to my GI first, and since she approved I started the new med today. I am tapering up, which means I started with one 500mg pill today and every week I will add another pill until I am at 2 pills in the AM and 2 in the PM. I am very hopefully this med will help me become pain free.

I ran this!!!!!

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